The Cosmic House

When thinking about history perhaps most peoples’ reflex would be to think about it as that long story about humanity’s evolution that often tends to be focused on great men that fought great battles, or built great objects or structures, men who, through sword or trade, got rich and famous, men who tied their name to this story we use to imagine our past. Few people would think about the history books that try to investigate traditions and customs, that look into the clothes worn through generations, that classify the objects humans used to sew these clothes, to grow food, to populate both their environment as well as act as inanimate companions to their traditions and rituals. Moreover, perhaps even fewer people would think about the histories of identity and otherness, about the stories of populations and individuals that, at one time or another, shared the same land, worked that land, grew their food on that land and celebrated their traditions on that land. "This Ridge", featuring artworks created by Gabriela Leu, Raluca Pavelescu and Adrian Buda, is a story about such a patch of land. Through time this piece of land assumed, or was imposed upon, many names, and is today generally referred to as Romania. Independently, the artists unfold stories that speak about their connection to a personal past, to traditions and struggles that get tied together to construct their distinct identity. Seen together these pieces form another narrative, one that explores themes of otherness and cohabitation. They challenge the myth of national homogeneity and look into the relationary complexities that are formed between peasants, serfs and slaves, as well as how the lives of their descendants are still shaped by these relations.